\ 



MB. J. MIERS ON THE SYMPLOCACEJU. 295 



12. B. Sprvce an A, nob— Symploeossp., Benth. MSS. In Peru- 

 ria: v. s. in herb, meo (21534), Tarapota (Spruce 4865). 



Flores $ plures, spicatim racemosi; calyx 4-fidus; petala 4, triplo 

 longiora, basi vix nexa; stamina 12, inaequalia, imo submonadelpha. 

 Flores 2 majores, in axillis solitarii in eodem ramo, perula} involu- 



crati. 



Dkcadta. 



A genus established by Loureiro in 1793, acknowledged by 

 Lamarck in 181 1 2 , but scarcely recognized by other botanists. 

 Prof. DeCandolle, in 1844, regarded it as a section of Symplocos 3 . 

 The authors of the * Genera Plantarum ' looked upon it as a genus 

 of Symplocacece of uncertain position 4 . To me it appears to offer 

 characters that will maintain its validity : among these are its 

 tnfid calyx, a corolla with double the usual number of petals, 

 which are biserial and unequal ; this latter circumstance makes 

 it approach the Alstonia of Linnaeus. 



Decadia, Lour. 5 



Flores hermaphroditi. Calyx inferus, persistens, profunde 3-fissus, la- 

 ciniis subrotundis, carnosulis, inaequalibus, pilosis, patentibus. Petala 

 10, biseriata, exteriora latiora, subovata, subserrata, erecta, calyce lon- 

 giora. Stamina circ. 30, petala subaequantia, corollac basi insidentia; 

 antkerte subrotundre, bilobae, erecta?. Ovarium subrotundum, fere 

 superum; stylus filiformis, stamina acquans; stigma crassiusculum. 



nux 



ularis. 



Arbor Chinensis, mediocris; rami patentes; folia alterna y lanceolata, 

 serrata, petiolata ; racemi parvi, subsimplices, terminates ; flores 

 minuti, albi. 



1. D. aluminosa, Lour. Cock. i. p. 385 ; Spreng. Syst. ii. p. 602 ; 

 Humph. Amboyn. vol.iii. lib. v. cap. xv. p. 160, tab. 100. — Bobua, 

 Burnt, (non Adans.) Zeylan. p. 26. In Cochin China: non vidi. 



The plant is well figured and described by Kumph. 



Dbupatbis. 



A genus established by Loureiro in 1793, and also acknow- 

 ledged by Lamarck in 1811 6 , but which has been generally ne- 

 glected by botanists. Prof. DeCandolle was disposed to refer it 

 to Symplocos' 1 ; but it appears to me to present good claims as a 

 valid genus. 



1 Mirbel, Elem. ii. p. 035, tab. 18. figs. 1, 2, 4. 



2 Diet. Suppl. ii. p. 459. * ProAr. viii. p. 247. 



6 



Genera PI. ii. p. 668. ' Coch. i. p. 385. 



Diet. Suppl. ii. p. 526. 7 Pwxlr. viii. p. 247. 



